Olajuwon

I've been so into college baseball and the preseason football machinations that I haven't paid much attention to the NBA playoffs (and of course, the Rockets were much too terrible this year to make the party). But I did note that Toronto was recently knocked out of the first round of the playoffs, and that former Houson Rocket and Houston Cougar Hakeem Olajuwon contributed next to nothing, riding the bench during the fourth quarter.

A fair number of fans here in town blasted the Rockets after they allowed him to go to Toronto last year (although I was not among those). In reality, Dream's best years are well behind him, and he couldn't even get off the bench during crunch time by the end of the season. The Rockets were wise not to overspend on him (although it's a different story with Mo Taylor, Glen Rice, and a whole host of other acquisitions made by Tomjanovich and Dawson, whose jobs will certainly be on the line next season). And Toronto gambled and lost.

[Posted at 19:36 CST on 05/15/02] [Link]